Former mob boss asks for dismissal of obstruction charges

Tuesday

Aug 28, 2007 at 12:01 AM

BOSTON — Lawyers for former New England mob boss Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme argued Monday that obstruction charges against him should be dismissed because the grand jury that indicted him was not told that the key witness against him — gangster Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi — had a history of lying.

DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON — Lawyers for former New England mob boss Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme argued Monday that obstruction charges against him should be dismissed because the grand jury that indicted him was not told that the key witness against him — gangster Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi — had a history of lying.

In 1999, prosecutors granted Salemme immunity for eight gangland slayings and other crimes in exchange for his testimony in the corruption case of former FBI Agent John Connolly Jr. They later credited him for helping them convict Connolly on racketeering charges, and a judge shaved more than two years off his 11Â½-year sentence on racketeering and extortion charges.

But just a year after he was released from prison in 2003, he was indicted again, this time for allegedly lying to federal investigators during his plea deal negotiations. Prosecutors say Salemme claimed he knew nothing about the 1993 killing of Boston nightclub manager Stephen DiSarro and suggested that other mobsters killed DiSarro because he'd become a government informant.

But prosecutors believe Salemme was present when DiSarro was murdered and then helped bury his body, which was never found.

Salemme's lawyers argued Monday that Flemmi was the key witness who testified before the grand jury that indicted Salemme on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

Attorney Robert George, calling Flemmi the "lynchpin" of the case against Salemme, said prosecutors should have presented more evidence to the grand jury about Flemmi's history as a liar.

"I suggest that if the grand jury had heard the background of this witness, they would not have indicted Mr. Salemme," George said.

As part of a plea deal in which he admitted his participation in 10 murders, Flemmi also pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges. Under the deal, he was sentenced to life in prison, but spared the death penalty.

Salemme's lawyers argued that federal prosecutors used Flemmi as a witness against Salemme, even though they knew he had a history of lying.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly said Flemmi was questioned before the grand jury about his lifetime of crime, including his role in 10 murders.

"It's not as though the grand jury did not realized what kind of person Mr. Flemmi was," Kelly said.

In court papers, prosecutors say that based on other corroborating information, they believe Flemmi was truthful in his testimony before the grand jury about Salemme's alleged role in the DiSarro murder.

Prosecutors said that Salemme, who headed the Patriarca crime family in the early 1990s, knew that if he admitted his involvement in the DiSarro murder, he would get a less generous plea deal.

According to Salemme's indictment, Salemme and his son, Francis P. Salemme Jr., had a hidden ownership interest in DiSarro's nightclub, The Channel. Salemme's son, who died in 1995, was a member of the mob and an assistant manager at the club.

If convicted, Salemme, now 74, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years on the obstruction of justice charge and a maximum of 5 years on the false statement charge.